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The government awards contracts to companies with histories of misconduct such as contract fraud and environmental, ethics, and labor violations. In the absence of a centralized federal database listing instances of misconduct, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is providing such data. We believe that it will lead to improved contracting decisions and public access to information about how the government spends hundreds of billions of taxpayer money each year on goods and services. Report an instance of misconduct »

Exxon Mobil

Exxon Corp. v. Alabama (Natural Gas Royalties)

Date: 05/12/2005 (Date of Decision)

Misconduct Type: Defective Pricing

Enforcement Agency: State/Local

Contracting Party: None

Court Type: Civil

Amount: $121,000,000

Disposition: Judgment Against Defendant

Synopsis: "In December 2000, a jury in the 15th Judicial Circuit Court of Montgomery County, Alabama, returned a verdict against the Corporation in a dispute over royalties in the amount of $88 million in compensatory damages and $3.4 billion in punitive damages in the case of Exxon Corporation v. State of Alabama, et al. The verdict was upheld by the trial court in May 2001. In December 2002, the Alabama Supreme Court vacated the $3.5 billion jury verdict. The case was retried and in November 2003, a state district court jury in Montgomery, Alabama, returned a verdict against Exxon Mobil Corporation. The verdict included $63.5 million in compensatory damages and $11.8 billion in punitive damages. In March 2004, the district court judge reduced the amount of punitive damages to $3.5 billion." In November 2007, the Alabama Supreme Court struck down the punitive damages award. The court ruled that the state did not prove that Exxon Mobil
committed fraud and was therefore not entitled to punitive damages. The court also reduced compensatory damages to $51.9 million plus interest, which amounted to an additional $70 million.